Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-08-27
OF an eternal sleep.

depths of an eternal sleep.
Poor dark eyed, deep hearted Jessl This |
was tho fruition Of her love and this her |
bridal bed.
1t was done. She had gone, taking with |
her tho secret Of her self ~sacriace and crime, 4
aud the night winds moaning amid the rocks
sang their requiem over her. Here she first /
had learned her love, and here she closed its (
book.
She might have been a great and GOOD
woman. She might even nave been a happy
woman. But fate had ordained it otherwise.
Women such as she are rarely happy In the
world. 1t is not well TO stake all oneS for
tune on a throw and lack the craft to load the
dice. Well, her troubles are lone with.
think gently of her" and let her pass In
peace.
The hours grew on toward the morning,
but John, the dead face Of tho woman be had
loved still pillowed on his breast, neither
dreamed nor woke. There was q strange and
dreadful irony in tho situation. and ono which
sometimes finds a counterpart in our waking
life, but still tho MAJ slept and tho dead
woman lay till the night turned into tho
morning and the world woke up as usual.
Tho sunbeams alid into tho cave and played
inditfercntly upon the ashen face and tangled
curls and on tho broad chest OF the living
man whercon they rested. An old baboon
pceped round the rocky edge and manifested
no surprise, only indignation. at the intrusion
Of humanity, dead or alive, into his domin-
ions. Yes, tho world woke up Us usual, and
rocked not and troubled not because jess was
dead.
1t was so accustomed to such sights.
And at last John woke UP, too. He
stretched his Arms and yawned, and then for
the first time became aware Of tho weight
upon his breast. He glanced down and saw
dimly at tirst-then moro clearly.
There arc some things into which 1t .
wisest not to pry, and ono Of them is the first
agony of q strong mans grief.
Happy was it for him hat his brain did
not give way in that first lonely hour Of bot.
uomless despair. But he lived through it, IS
Wa do live through such things, and was sane
mud sound after 1t, though 1t left its mark
upon his life.
Two hours later a gaunt, haggard figure
came stumbling down tho hillside toward tho
site Of Mooifontcin, bearing something in his
arms. The whole place was in connection.
Hero and there were knots Of Beers talking
excitcdly, who, when they saw the man COM
ing hurried up to SEQ who it was and what lc
carried. But when thoy knew they fell back
awed aud without a word, and he, too,
passed through them without a word. For u
moment he hesitated, realizing that the house
was burned down, and then turned into tho
wagon shed and laid his burden down upon tho
saw bench Oh which Frank Muller had sat as
judge upon the previous day.
Then at last no spoke in a hoarse voice,
"Where is the old man" One of them pointed
to tho door Of tho little room.
"Open it," he said, 70 Aercely that they
| again fell back and obeyed him without u
| word.
"John! joint" cried Silas Croft. "Thank
God you have come back to US from the
dcnd!' and, trembling with Joy and surprise,
no would have fallen upon Ids neck.
"Hushi" he answered; II havo brought tho
| dead with me-"
And he led him to where she lay.
During the day tho Beers all went and left
them alone. Now that Frank Muller was
dead there was no thought among them of
| carrying out tho sentence upon their old
n~eighbor. Besides, there was no warrant for
the execution, even had they desired 20 TO do,
for their commandment had died leaving It IN
signed. So they held a sort of Informal in.
quest upon their leaders body, II then
buried HIM in the little graveyard hat was
/ ktNAIlIcl "iUl tI0 1OuT Icl kuUIB, On0 ~ CWCu
corner, and walled in on the hillside ut the
back OF where the house had stood. Rather
than he at tho pains of following out another
they buried him in the very grave that he
had caused to be dug to receive tho body OF
Silas Croft.
Who had murdered Frank Muller was and
remains a mystery among them to this day.
Tho knife was identified by the natives about
tho farm as belonging to tho Hottentot
Jantje, and a Hottcntot was seen running
from tho place of tho deed and hunted for
some way, but could not be caught or heard
Of again. Therefore many Of them arc Of the
opinion that he is the guilty man. Others,
again, believes that the crime rests upon the
shoulders Of the villainous ono eyed Kaflr,
Hendrix, his own servant, who had also mys-
terously vanished. But as they nave never
found either Of them, and are not likely to,
the point remains o moot one. Nor, indeed,
did they take any great pains 10 hunt for
them. Frank Muller was not a popular char.
acter, and tho fact Of . man coming to q mys-
FERROUS end does not produce any great sensa-
tion among q rough people and in rough
times.
On the following day old Silas Croft, Bes-
sic and John Mel also buried their dead in the
little graveyard on the hillside, and there she
lies, SONHc Jeu Iect u odTtH only between nef
and the man on whom she was tho instru-
ment Of vengeance. But they never knew
that, Or even guessed it. They never even
knew that sho had been near Mooifontein on
that awful night. Nobody knew it except
Jantje, and Jantje, haunted by the football OF
the pursuing Roers, was gone from tho ken Of
the white man far into tho wilds OF Central
Africa.
John" said the old man, when they had
filed in the grave, "this Is no country for
Englishmcn. Let us go homo to England"
John bowed his llend in assent. Fortunately
the means were not wanting, although they
were practically ruined, for the 81 900 he had
paid TO Silas for a third interest in the farm
still lay, together with another 925O, in the
Standard bank at Newcastle, in Natal.
And 80 in due course they went.
And now what more il there to tell1 Jess,
to those who read what has been written az
it is meant to be read, was the soul Of it all,
and Jess is dead. 1t il useless to set a lifeless
thing upon its feet, rather let US strive to fol
low tile soarings Of the spirit. Jess is dead
md her story at an end.
One word more. After some difficulty John
Mel, within three months OF his arrival in
England, got employment as a land agent to
n large estate in Rutlandshire, which position
| hc fila tn thia dav with credit IN h;muslS aud